redearslider.com

I live in Cleveland, Ohio and I have a 1 year old RES living in my 75 gallon plastic pond in the backyard (I hope this is okay). He (or she??) seems to love it and has at least doubled in size since I decided to transfer him/her from the aquarium to the pond. When should I bring him/her in and when is it safe to put him/her back out there in the spring? Also, how do I decide if I should call him/her either "him" or "her"? And, I bought this turtle in Florida, and the people told me it was a RES. How do I verify this is actually a RES? And why is it illegal to sell RES's in Ohio? I know, I have lots of questions, but my kids really like this turtle.

I can't answer the questions regarding when to bring it in or put it outside. But I can help a bit with the other questions.

First, what size is your turtle? They can't be sexed until they are at least 4".

here is a discussion with pictures on sexing turtles:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=545&highlight=sexing

It is NOT illegal to own a turtle in Ohio, its illegal in ALL states to sell a turtle under 4".

This is the Law regarding selling turtles:

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/4inchlaw.htm


If you have a picture you could post on here we can help with the sexing and verifying if it is an RES. It's rather easy to tell if it isn't a RES .. does it have red markings where you'd expect it's ears to be? You can look through the photo gallery to see other's turtles and compare them

There is a ton of info on this forum and throughout this site. There are a lot of pictures as well, so search around and you should be able find out all you need to know.